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CENTCOM | Anadolu | Getty Images
Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, the first reported fatalities from attacks targeting Red Sea shipping in more than a year.
Within hours, U.S. forces said they had fired missiles at a container ship that allegedly attempted to breach Washington's blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman.
The twin incidents illustrate how the war, stretching into its sixth month, is inflicting a widening toll on two of the world's most critical shipping lanes, even as diplomats signal progress towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen's transport ministry said the casualties included four crew members aboard the vessel — identified as the Egyptian-owned, Tanzania-flagged Tihamah — three of them Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian. Separately, Yemen's coastguard reportedly said two members of the Yemeni government-allied National Resistance Forces were also killed in a follow-up strike as they carried out a rescue.
Yemen's transport ministry said in its statement that it holds "the Houthi terrorist militias fully responsible for the deaths, injuries and damage inflicted on the commercial vessel "Tihamah" as well as for the serious consequences resulting from these attacks," according to a Google translation of Arabic.
A Houthi-aligned media outlet later said the group's forces had targeted a ship carrying Saudi military equipment, though the Houthis haven't addressed the casualty figures officially.
The Iran-aligned group declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20, breaking a years-long Yemeni civil-war truce, calling it retaliation for a Saudi "siege" on Yemen, an allegation Riyadh has denied.
Separately, the U.S. Central Command said late Tuesday that a Navy helicopter fired two missiles at the Panama-flagged Vela Nova, disabling its steering and propulsion, after the crew ignored warnings while transiting the Gulf of Oman.
Centcom said the ship had tried to run past the naval blockade Washington reimposed on Iranian ports in mid-April. There were no immediate reports of casualties. U.S forces have redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade since it took effect, disabled three non-compliant ships and boarded two, according to Centcom.
The hostilities at sea come as U.S.-Iran diplomacy has stalled. Iran's Supreme National Security Council laid out sweeping demands over the weekend for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the U.S. naval blockade, sanctions relief, American troop withdrawals and war reparations.
President Donald Trump has countered by demanding Iran pay compensation of its own. The impasse has pushed a return to normal shipping further out of reach, even as Iran and Oman edge toward an agreement on a new transit corridor through the Hormuz Strait.
Traffic through the strait, which saw 20% of the world's oil trade before the conflict began in late February, has been barely trickling. The war-induced tumult in the waterway has caused a global energy supply shock, sharply raising oil prices and causing broader economic consequences.
Oil prices have been rising on the back of renewed tensions. Brent crude futures for October delivery added 0.6% to $89.44 a barrel on Wednesday, extending a rally that has added more than 7% this week, according to LSEG data. U.S. West Texas Intermediate for September added 0.7% to $83.8.
"Current rhetoric suggests any potential deal is still some way off, meaning risks remain skewed to the upside for oil prices," said Warren Patterson, ING's head of commodities strategy.
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There have, however, been some signs of ongoing diplomatic efforts. A senior Pakistani minister said Tuesday that the U.S. and Iran are close to "some sort of arrangement" over the Strait of Hormuz, offering a glimmer of hope for a deal even as the warring powers appear to be hardening their negotiating stances.
Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Asif, told reporters that "things are shaping up again in favor of a peace arrangement or a deal," according to Bloomberg.
The Pakistani official's comments came after a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Al Jazeera that talks between Iran and Oman about opening a shipping channel through the Strait of Hormuz were at a "critical juncture." %!s(
